Overloaded school bus was twice limit at time of crash that killed 12

A school bus that crashed in Shandong province killing 11 kindergarten pupils and their driver had been carrying twice as many passengers as it was legally allowed to.

The bus had seatbelts for eight people, but it was carrying 15 when it collided with a truck carrying sand in the northeastern city of Penglai on Wednesday morning, state media reported. In addition to those dead, three children were injured.

The kindergarten principal, the truck driver and the owner of the rented minibus are in police custody. The crash is being investigated by the Shandong Provincial Work Safety Supervision Bureau and other departments.

Photos of the crash aftermath show a mangled van and bodies of the dead pupils covered in sand.

Villagers recalled a mother at the scene repeating “let me hold my child again”.